Bewitching bel canto

For those unfamiliar with the plot of Gaetano Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor," the opera that Wichita Grand Opera presents next weekend, here's a crude synopsis. Set in 17th century Scotland, "Lucia di Lammermoor" depicts a despondent bride who (in love with another man, an ancestral enemy) knifes her husband to death on their wedding night and then wanders around the family castle in a bloody nightgown, singing feverishly while her wedding guests watch in shock.

So it may not be the most romantic choice for a night at the opera. In fact, the story might initially seem more appropriate for a B-level horror flick. (It's actually based on a Sir Walter Scott novel.) Still, there is something enduring about Donizetti's music, which makes "Lucia di Lammermoor" arguably the finest opera by the prolific Italian composer.

"It has one memorable tune after another. It's music where you can close your eyes and see pictures," says Parvan Bakardiev, president and CEO of Wichita Grand Opera.

"First and foremost," he says, "it's an opera with beautiful singing."

"Beautiful singing" is the usual English translation of "bel canto," an Italian term for the kind of acrobatic vocal writing employed by Donizetti and early 19th-century contemporaries Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini. Bel canto usually involves wide leaps, seamless phrases, intricate passagework and virtuosic trills. Only the most technically accomplished, fearless sopranos can pull off a role like Lucia, particularly the demanding "Mad Scene" near the opera's conclusion.

What's more, those singers who can perform it exceptionally well are celebrated. The names still most often talked about today are Maria Callas and Australian soprano Joan Sutherland, who both are credited with bringing about a return to prominence of the bel canto style in the 1950s and '60s.

In 1959, when Sutherland performed the role of Lucia at London's Covent Garden Opera House, she became an overnight sensation. Last October, when Sutherland died at age 83, obituaries around the world invariably included mention of Sutherland's "Lucia" performances.

Bakardiev has warm personal memories of Sutherland from when they judged a vocal competition together several years ago in Austria.

"Gracious," "an interesting sense of humor" and "forceful" are how Bakardiev most remembers Sutherland. And "very opinionated" — especially when the subject turned to soprano singing. According to Bakardiev, vocal precision, beauty of tone and musicality were top qualities she looked for in young singers.

With Russian soprano Olga Orlovskaya, Bakardiev thinks he has a Lucia who will live up to expectations.

"Technically, she is excellent and looks great on stage," he says. "Obviously, she is very young, in her 20s, for a role that presents a lot of challenges."

But he admires the spark and improvisation that Orlovskaya brings to the music, particularly in the "Mad Scene." Bakardiev is also moved by her dramatic commitment to the character.

"She's just not singing the role," he says. "She is becoming one with the character, a woman that is living by love."

Lest you think "Lucia" is a star vehicle for only its lead, the opera includes substantial music for its other roles, particularly Edgardo, who sings two rapturous arias at the opera's end. (For this weekend's performances, which are co-produced with Baltimore Opera Theatre, Ukrainian Igor Borko plays Edgardo.)

Also, Lucia's bad-guy brother Enrico has the smoldering opening aria, "Cruda, funesta smania." Then, of course, there is the opera's famous Act II sextet, which Bakardiev aptly describes as "a dream," and is inevitably featured in "Opera Greatest Hits" CDs. The music, which has the opera's six main characters singing their inner thoughts and feelings simultaneously, even cleverly figures in a Looney Tunes cartoon with Elmer Fudd and Sylvester the Cat. (You might want to look it up. It's titled "Back Alley Oproar.")

For its inexhaustible melodies and extraordinary power to inspire singers and thrill generations of listeners, Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" has become equated with greatness.

If you go

'Lucia di Lammermoor'

What: Opera by Gaetano Donizetti; second production in Wichita Grand Opera's season

Where: Mary Jane Teall Theater, Century II

When: 7 p.m. Friday and Jan. 16

How much: Tickets $32-$85 at Select-A-Seat outlets. Charge by phone, 316-755-SEAT or 316-262-8054.

This story was originally published January 9, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Bewitching bel canto."